Broken Canvas
by BeautifulNightmare16
Summary: Robin goes undercover at a high school to spy on one particular girl who has a mysterious connection with a new and dangerous villain. Too bad things are easier said than done… RobRae
1. Windsor

Summary: Robin goes undercover to spy on one particular girl in order to bring down a new villain. Too bad things are easier said than done…

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans or the book bag company of Jansport.

**Undercover yet Head Over Heels**

Chapter One: Windsor

A dark silhouette dashed across the rooftop at breakneck speed. A small Jansport book bag tightly strapped to the back of the male figure dressed in all black from head to toe. The contents inside the bag lightly jingled with the sound of freshly stolen jewels. As the culprit raced away, the sound of sirens and alarms of the jewelry store decreased and soon could be heard no more. The tall man ducked into an alleyway panting heavily yet full of ecstasy from his successful robbery. Once his body calmed down he swung the bag off his broad shoulders and gently set it down on the ground. Slowly he zipped open the larger compartment revealing precious sparkling diamonds and gems that gleamed in the moonlight. He chuckled softly as a small smile spread across his lips.

"Not bad for one night," came a low mumble.

"Yeah, well it's gonna be your last one," growled a young boy's voice. The criminals head shot up at the sound and he laid his eyes on five figures in the night. Quickly he zipped up the bag and flung it back over his arm preparing to take off again.

"You're not going anywhere," Cyborg yelled. The man once again allowed a slow sneer to spread across his face.

"Are you so sure of that?"

"Yea we're so sure of it!" Beast Boy said in his surfer like lingo. Raven, who hovered just above him, rolled her amethyst eyes.

"Well last time I checked I didn't answer to anyone and just because a bunch of punk teenagers with ridiculous superpowers, well that is most of you anyway," he shot a glance at Robin who glared menacingly. "Come along in strange oddball costumes doesn't mean I'm gonna start listening to anyone now especially you five!"

The man's hand shot upward towards the night sky and the entire alley seemed to become one vast wind tunnel. Okay, so he had powers himself. Dust and soot from the filthy city street was stirred up and whipped around everywhere. Starfire, Raven, Beast Boy and Cyborg covered their tearing eyes to protect themselves from the blinding debris while Robin's mask effectively protected his own. The man began to run from the scene unaware of the fact that the Boy Wonder remained unaffected by the attack. Instinctively, Robin followed in hot pursuit.

The unknown man dashed through alleyways and only realized shortly after that Robin was closely following him. Quickly, he turned a corner and jumped behind a large dumpster. Robin skidded to a halt at the mouth of the alleyway. Looking around carefully, he cautiously made his way in the gap between the buildings. Abruptly, the dumpster lifted up off the ground supported by small tornado of wind being controlled by the mysterious new villain. Robin gaped at the hovering dumpster until the culprit arched his hands and the steel container of trash dodged straight for him. He swiftly jumped out of the way narrowly escaping painful broken bones and only sustained a crash with hard asphalt. The human windmill dashed down the rest of the alleyway until a well thrown bird-a-rang slashed open the smaller compartment of the book bag. The man skidded to a sudden stop as a few items fell from the tear but as he glimpsed down the end of the alley he thought better of it than to collect them back up. With a final smirk headed in the direction of Robin, the newly acquainted villain made a run for it and as Robin exited the alley and looked around, he had disappeared.

The spiky haired teenager gritted his teeth at having lost to an amateur scoundrel and turned around to collect the fallen items as evidence. A pen and a folded picture of a young girl. She was around seven or eight years old, her blonde hair was up in high pigtails and her smile was just as pretty as her bright green eyes. Robin turned the photo over to reveal a scribbled message:

**Windsor,**

**Here's the photo you wanted.**

"Her name is Wendy Cassandra. This picture must be old because the girl in it looks like a kid but she's sixteen now. Turns out she's an orphan and was left at Miss. Cassandra's Orphanage right here in Jump City when she was just three days old. She took the owner's first name as her last because they were so close. She left the orphanage at fourteen to attend a top notch boarding school called Sacramento's Finest on an art scholarship. She's been there for two years and the worst she has on her permanent record is a small fine for _littering_. The only thing I don't understand is how she's connected to this guy Windsor," Raven finished finally. She turned away from the computer screen exhibiting a young looking Wendy next to a much older more recent looking one, to face the rest of the Titans.

"She may be a target of his. It says on the back that he wanted a photo of her. I mean it doesn't sound like this girl Wendy willingly gave him a picture of herself. Windsor had to get someone _else_ to get it for him," Robin pondered. Starfire shook her head.

"I do not believe that is so. The picture shows that it has been worn over many years. And in it Wendy is very young. She is now sixteen years old. If she was to be a target for anything, something would have already occurred. But nothing in her past hints that she may have been kidnapped, raped or targeted for any reason."

"Star's right. I think Wendy has a connection to Windsor but she doesn't know it. Just think about it," Cyborg exclaimed. "The girl's an orphan. What if this dude's like her father or something? Maybe that's why he wanted the picture of her."

"That's very possible. The guy tonite had green eyes and so does this girl. Maybe a coincidence but we've got nothing else. And if Windsor is Wendy's father then she may show the same signs of having powers too. It's unlikely that someone with powers, who gives birth, won't have a child with the same gift. I suggest one of us goes undercover at her school to see what she's all about. Is she starts spinning tornados in the middle of hallways we'll know," Raven commented.

"Oh yeah! Dudes, I'm so up for this operation! Last time it was Cyborg who got to do the fun stuff, but I am not letting this one slip by me! Like I said, I'm the master of disguise!" Cried Beast Boy. He then began to change into various green animals in many different poses just as last time. Raven simply stared down on the current green raccoon standing in front of her in a kung-fu-fighting pose.

"I elect Robin to do the honors. He's the only one of us that can pass for as normal because he's the only one of us who really is. Cyborg's last electronic clone was too much to handle with Beast Boy making it burp all the time, Starfire doesn't understand enough earthly ways to convince someone she's a regular teenager, and I don't think any ordinary human kid has purple hair and purple eyes like I do."

"Raven, what about me!" Beast Boy howled. Raven simply gazed at him with such a straight face, a poker player would die for it.

"We're being serious here Beast Boy," she stated. The changelings face went slack.

"All in favor of Robin going undercover say 'I'," said Cyborg. Starfire, Raven and Cyborg repeated the single letter and all eyes laid on Beast Boy's stubborn face. The green one's face glanced at each of his teammates stern faces until he gave a dull defeated, 'I'.

"So are you up for the job?" asked Raven. Robin peered around at each of his teammates once more.

"Don't you think we're kind of jumping into this? I mean we haven't even thought of any other possibilities. We could be wasting our time."

Raven took the floor once more, "We haven't got anything else to go on. Got any other ideas besides the undercover mission I suggested?"

Robin racked his brain for another idea. But Raven was right. They had no other leads; nothing else to go on. "Okay, you win. Undercover mission it is."

"So you will complete operation of the undercover?"

Peering around once more at his eager teammates Robin came to his decision. "Doesn't look like I have much of a choice since I'm the only one for the job. Let's get started."

The five Titans were gathered around a bulky table with several amounts of paperwork covering the surface. They began going over the plans for the undercover operation.

"Okay, if you're going undercover you can't exactly have a Teen Titans communicator on you to contact us with. You're gonna need a cell phone. Cyborg will design his own for you which will have all the same features as the communicator's yet it will look like a regular cellular flip-phone. It will also have a tracker for us to find you in case anything goes wrong and you need our help," Raven said. Starfire spoke up as well.

"You must have normal apparel as you are not going to be Robin when you go under the cover, but you will go by your real birth name of Richard Grayson. In your knap of the sack you will find clothing provided by Alfred, the man you recently contacted."

"You're in dorm 904 in building three. You got two roommates named James Rodriguez and Jordan Toddler. We checked their records and they're clean," said Beast Boy in a serious tone.

"You're in three classes with Wendy and two of them you're not just so it doesn't look suspicious. Here's your schedule." Cyborg tossed a small piece of paper over to Robin from across the table. Robin picked it up and began reading. "You're gonna have to do all the work and appear to be a normal student. That is, until we figure out the connection or give up the operation although that's not likely. So you're gonna have to do homework. And the school kicks their students out if they fail two or more classes so when or if we get what we want you're gonna flunk yourself outta there."

"That's not the last thing," Raven interrupted. "You're going to have to get as close to Wendy as you possibly can. Become her friend; make her trust you so she'll tell you what we need to know. Do what you have to do, just get the dirt on her."

"So are you ready to move out, Robin?" Cyborg asked smiling. Robin stared down at the plans and lifted his hand up to the corner of his mask and carefully peeled it away from his eyes. Slowly, he looked up at his gawking teammates. They had never seen his clear blue eyes because it was the first time he'd taken his mask off in front of them.

"Yeah, and its Richard."


	2. Settling in and Second Thoughts

**A/N:** Well here's chapter two. Hope you're enjoying it so far! Please Review!

Reviewers!

**Chaltab:** I'm sorry that you think my story is coming out cliché and that you've seen it so many times. But unfortunately, there are so many people on FanFic that it's getting harder and harder to come out with an original idea everyday. Unlike others, I'm not going to be putting all my energy into the Robin/Wendy romance. There will be other events happening with twists to them and I won't bore you or anyone else with just their relationship. Also, being new to FanFic, I was told to not come out with an idea that was so out on the limb because then people won't read it so I'm trying to be settle. And that whole thing about Robin referring to himself as Richard and not Dick is because Dick is short for Richard but I absolutely hate calling my favorite character by the name of Dick. It's degrading… I mean c'mon… would you like your name to be Dick? I don't think so. I'm glad you're enjoying the beginning and that you're waiting for chapter two. Thanks for the review!

**Ochako107: **Thanks for reviewing and don't worry, Robin will be fine without all his gadgets… wait… (Looks at next chapter)… forget I said anything (evil laugh). Oh and about sicking evil raccoons on me… well, I have an Army of evil Chipmunks so you better watch out!

**Jahiro19:** Thanks for the review! I was in an exceptionally good mood when I wrote the first chapter so I think that's why it was so well written (at least to me it was). I've been trying to keep the magic going. I guess that's how I can explain it. Teen Titans has never mentioned rape before but I'm going to make them use a little slang and a few semi-bad words in my story. After all, they are teenagers so they have a right to it. But I'm not going to make them use so many bad words like other authors do because then they lose their personality and they aren't the Teen Titans anymore that we all know and love.

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans or Pamela Anderson (that sounds so wrong… just read the story, you'll see).

**Undercover yet Head Over Heels**

Chapter Two: Settling in and Second Thoughts

Richard sat in the back seat of a rental car staring out the window towards Sacramento's Finest. It was merely a two story red brick building with a wide staircase in the front leading to the next level. Out on the lawn it had a circular driveway with flags and fancy statues in the center. Each blade of grass looked like it had its own personal landscaper because not a blade was out of place. Along with the perfect lawn came the fact that each and every aspect of the school was symmetrical.

Cyborg, wearing a coat and hat to cover his cybernetic limbs, pulled into the driveway and stopped in front of the staircase. Raven sat next to him in the passenger seat wearing a hat, jeans and regular T-shirt. Beast Boy and Starfire stayed back at headquarters which was currently a Best Western Inn. Richard, who was now considerably nervous, sat in the back wearing dark blue jeans, a white T-shirt and sneakers. It was ironic how he could face monsters, psychotic villains and Slade without breaking a sweat but when it came to his first day of fake school; he got the first day jitters.

Cyborg turned around in his seat and handed Richard a silver cell phone, "Two beeps at a time means that it's any one of us calling you. Three beeps at a time means it's someone else. It has a mapping device so if you need to follow Wendy anywhere you're not gonna be in any unfamiliar territory and you can find your way back if you need to. Also, just for extra security, if you press down on the five key for three seconds or longer, that will let us know that you need our help and we'll locate your tracking device. And… if you pull out the antenna all the way… it will become a sharp blade."

Richard carefully pulled out the antenna. There was in fact a small sharp blade that came out. He looked at Cyborg with a look that said 'Are you kidding me'? "Hey man, just want you to have extra protection. You're not gonna have your belt on you in case anything happens and you're gonna be extremely vulnerable."

"Yeah, but a knife that comes out of my phone? I think you just got a bit carried away and tried to fit as many gadgets into it as you can."

"Well, hopefully you won't have to use it. Just be careful. Contact us when you find out something. Tomorrow is the start of first term so we couldn't have planned this operation any better. You won't be a new kid or anything you're starting out just like everyone else so you'll blend in nicely. Today you're just gonna get settled into your dorm room and such. And Richard, just be careful around this girl. We're not sure whether she has powers or not and you have nothing but a small knife and martial arts to protect you. Two things that won't fair very well against someone who can create a tornado."

"Raven, I'll be fine. Don't worry so much. I'll talk to you guys later," and with that he opened the car door and walked around to the trunk which Cyborg popped open for him. He pulled out a medium sized black knapsack and after he closed the trunk, Cyborg and Raven drove away leaving him alone in the front of the school.

* * *

Richard walked down the long narrow hallway with a piece of paper in his hand. Written in the scribbled handwriting of Beast Boy's it said, 'Room 904 Building 3 James Rodriguez + Jordan Toddler.' He passed dorm 901 which blasting music could be heard. Richard began thinking about how annoying it would be for him to be trying to sleep and having to hear that music blast through his head when he subconsciously found himself at the door of dorm room 904.

Richard took a deep breathe, turned the doorknob and entered. Two teenagers were inside and were currently plastering the walls with inappropriate pictures, racecars, and other junk posters. They too had music blasting and neither one of the boys realized that Richard had entered. They were in the middle of an argument.

"Dude, Pamela Anderson totally looks better over there on that wall!"

"You just want her over there because it's over your _bed_!"

"Nuh-uh it just fills up that blank space!"

"You mean like the blank space in your head!" Richard, who had gone totally unnoticed, turned off the stereo.

"Dude what's your deal!" yelled the one that wanted the picture over his bed.

"Hey Duke, can't you see that this is our new roommate! That how you treat our new guest! Sorry bro, he's a little mentally challenged," said the other boy tapping his head with his forefinger. "I'm James Rodriguez but you can just call me Diffy and the stupid one over here is Jordan Toddler but you can just call him Duke. Even though I have to disagree because his real name works perfectly with the amount that's in his brain. A toddler's amount."

Diffy started to laugh and received a smack upside the head by Duke who then said, "So dude, you got a name?"

"Richard. Richard Grayson," he answered as he held out his hand for Duke.

"Duuude you're like that super rich guy's kid!" he replied as he roughly shook Richard's hand. Diffy then shook with him also.

"Yeah, that would be me."

"Yeah what's his name? Bruce Wayne or something like that?" Diffy asked.

"Yup that's him."

"Hey, dude, is it true that he once beat you so bad that broke your arm and collarbone!" Duke asked. Richard simply stared at him. He remembered that time. They'd gotten in a bad brawl with a few criminals and Richard wasn't careful enough. Rumors about how he'd broken those bones had flown around for weeks.

"Um, no. I fell down the stairs. And just to set the record straight, I'm not his kid. He adopted me when I was eight."

"Yeah, cause like didn't some psycho like, kill your real parents?" Duke asked. Richard simply stared at him. This was not a topic he liked to talk about openly and especially not to some bonehead who had an airy voice with just as much air for a brain and talked like he was a surfer when they were miles away from the intercostals.

"Dude! Ya don't ask someone that!" Diffy smacked the back of Duke's head. "Sorry man, he just doesn't think sometimes. Anyway, here's your bed and dresser. We'll be down at the arcade gettin' our game on! Just make yourself at home in our pad!"

Diffy motioned to a bed and dresser on the other side of the room and Richard walked over, opened the folded mattress that had no sheets, and tossed his knapsack at the foot of it. He sat down on the edge of the bed and flopped over on his back staring at the chalk white ceiling. His mind drifted off to when Beast Boy had said that these two were clean. Lifting his head he caught a glimpse at one of the pictures on the opposite wall. _Oh yeah BB, they're real clean,_ he thought as he let his head fall back to the mattress.

* * *

"Hey Starfire, what do you want on your pizza?" Beast Boy screamed into the other room. They'd gotten two joint rooms, one for the Raven and Starfire to share and the other for Cyborg and Beast Boy to share. If everything went well, the roommates wouldn't kill each other before Robin found something on Wendy.

"I would like pickles and mint frosting as a topping on the peat of za! Thank you!" Beast Boy stared at the door of the room the girls were staying in.

"Yeah we'll take one extra extra extra cheese and one pepperoni," he said into the phone. Just then Raven and Cyborg entered the boys' room and sat down on the Cyborg's bed. Starfire heard their entrance and entered as well sitting beside Beast Boy on his bed.

"Well, he's in," Cyborg said. Raven stared down at her feet.

"Something troubles you friend Raven?" Starfire asked.

"I just hope we're not tossing him straight into danger. What if someone finds out that he's Robin?"

"How could they! I mean there was nothing in his bag like his uniform or mask or anything to suggest that he's Robin. And even if he does run into trouble, he's Robin! The guy gets beat downs from Slade, gets thrown down stairs, nearly gets blown up and jumps off of things when he can't even fly! I think he can handle going to school and spying on a girl," Beast Boy exclaimed. Raven shook her head.

"But still, it just worries me. His mask never really covered much of his face. It wouldn't be too hard to figure out that Robin and Richard Grayson is the same person."

Cyborg piped up, "Rae, don't worry. He knows how to handle himself. He'll be fine."

"I just have a bad feeling about all this though," she finished.

Everyone sat in silence with Raven's words of wisdom running through their heads. What had made them to take such a rash action that in three days they threw Robin into unknown territory where he was to stalk a girl whose power potential they knew nothing about? What if her 'bad feeling', turned out to be right? They had pretty much forced Robin into this. He had said it himself; he hadn't exactly had a choice and they were jumping into this without proper knowledge.


	3. Abducted and in Trouble

Disclaimer: I do now own Teen Titans or any of the Star Wars movies or Kodak.

**Undercover yet Head Over Heels**

Chapter Three: Abducted and in Trouble

Richard had recently unpacked all of his belongings into his dresser in an attempt to pass time since he now had no friends or anything to do with his time. It would be impossible to simply call up the rest of the Titans. If he kept hanging up on whoever he was on the phone with at the moment whenever someone walked in it would look highly suspicious.

He flopped down on his mattress which now had sheets, and stared at his ceiling. It was the only fine quality object to look at because of all the dime store smut hanging on the walls. With a heavy sigh he began to wonder where his two new roommates had gotten to. It'd been hours since he last saw them. All he'd done today was obtain a map of the school from the main office, familiarize himself with the entire building and unpack. Something that had only taken the unmasked Boy Wonder little time to finish with his outstanding photographic memory. They were most likely just like Beast Boy and probably stayed at the arcade all day. It was kind of a rude thing to do to the new guy, even if Richard didn't enjoy their company.

He rolled on his side not particularly caring whether they came back or not just as long as he got peace and quiet while he slept. He began to wonder what he'd do if he saw Wendy tomorrow on the first day. Should he immediately start talking to her or lay low for a while to see if she openly uses her powers? Richards mind, however, did not dwell on this solution for long because after a long trip to Sacramento and a boring useless day with nothing to do, he was wiped. His mind began to slip into unconsciousness and in no time he was out cold.

* * *

Around one A.M. three boys, fully dressed in black, slinked into the darkness of the dorm room. They spotted Richard sound asleep on his bed and they eagerly began to whisper and point. Quietly, they tip-toed over to the edge of the bed until they were looming over the young boys face with tape, a pillow case, and rope in each of their hands. One of the boys lightly hit the other boys arm and motioned to Richards face. The boy pulled off a piece of tape while the other two readied themselves with the pillow case and rope. With lightening speed, Richards's mouth was taped and the pillow case was thrown over his head.

Richard shot up in bed alarmed by the disturbance and yelling a muffled scream when he was caught off guard as he realized his upper torso was being tied up tightly with thick, wiry rope. Though he struggled against his subjugators, even Robin of the Teen Titans was rather easily apprehended by the three relatively muscular boys. Richard was considerably helpless being that he couldn't move (besides his legs) or see. All he could do was make the situation as complicated as possible for his captors by fighting as much as he could with his now thrashing legs.

They hoisted him out of bed and began to shove him out of the dorm and down a series of passages and hallways. Two boys held Richard by his elbows while he could hear and sense the third walking just ahead. Even with memorizing the map of the school it was tricky to know where you were going when you were taking uneven steps because you were being yanked and pulled in different directions.

Richard was soon dragged up a pair of steps and figured he was being taken into a room since he could hear large doors being thrown open. He was pushed into the middle of the room and thrust down onto his knees painfully. The pillow case was yanked off his head roughly and he hastily squinted his watering eyes as they abruptly adjusted to the light. The ropes were then loosened and removed. He began to bring his hand up to his mouth to remove the tape himself but one of his subjugators reached down swiftly and wrenched it off him himself. The stickiness pulled painfully at his skin but Richard suppressed a small 'ouch' for the moment.

He was inside a large candle lit unused classroom. Some twenty or so boys were surrounding Richard in a circle, each of them holding one candle and wearing a long, dark brown cloak that had a hood which hid their faces in the darkness. It reminded him of the new Star Wars movie that had just come out where Anakon Skywalker was wearing the same billowing cloak. It seemed as though this was some sort of ceremony taking place. The unmasked Boy Wonder was in the center of it all held in place by the two who had been holding his elbows. However, they were now clutching his shoulders keeping him from getting up. Even the boys holding him in place were now covering the black outfits with the same brown cloak. The boy who'd been walking just ahead of them was now throwing his own cloak over his shoulders.

"What's going on? Where am I?" he questioned immediately and coldly. A rather tall broad shouldered looking boy stepped from his part in the circle.

"Duke and Diffy have informed me that a newbie kid who was worthy arrived today and was their roommate. They said that it was the ever famous Richard Grayson, the son of the millionaire Bruce Wayne," said the boy.

"Yeah… That's me," Richard said tentatively and quite bluntly.

"Don't you think we know that already?" the boy snapped. He turned around and began walking to a table behind a row of boys who quickly shifted to allow him access to it. He set down his candle on a holder and began to speak, "Here at Sacramento's Finest only the finest run the school and that's us. Unless you're a freshman, we take everyone we think has what it takes and see if they've got it in them to be considered one of us. I guess you can consider us a kind of… fraternity."

"Or a gang," Richard exclaimed. All the heads in the classroom turned toward the boy who Richard supposed was the one in charge. He spun around and strode over to Richard with his cloak flailing out behind him in all directions. He reached Richards knees and stopped. Richard craned his neck to glare up at the boy who smiled a very sinister smile.

"I don't like your use of vocabulary," he said in a slow drawling voice which eerily reminded Richard of Slade. The boy smiled once more and bent his knee back and slammed it into Richards's exposed and vulnerable stomach. Richard let escape a small 'oomph!' from his lips and doubled over clearly in pain clutching his stomach. However, the boys who had been holding his shoulders keeping him in place heaved him back up to face the leader towering over him.

"Usually when you're taken into this classroom and asked to join our _fraternity_, the losers are happy! If they get accepted into our fraternity then they're set for the rest of their high school career regarding friends anyhow. Not only are you set with friends but you'll also run the place as though you're king. Everyone knows that we're not afraid to put a beat down on _anyone_ who gets in our way. Do you understand that now? Do you understand why you _can't_ turn us down!"

Richard clenched his teeth. Apparently, this guy didn't 'understand' that the famous Richard Grayson could easily turn him down and that he had the power to make his life a living hell simply because he was Bruce Wayne's boy. But running to Bruce was something he certainly was not going to do especially when he was working undercover with the Titans but getting beaten up was something he certainly did not want either. They would without doubt notice his martial arts skill and begin to question him. Richard found it rather hard to try and hide it. He somehow found a way to make every punch look fancy. "Y-Yes," he croaked due to the pain swelling in his abdomen.

"Good. Now that that's settled, let's get down to business. We don't just let anyone join what we like to call Black Zodiac Fraternity. Even if you do look worthy we need to be sure. You have to go through a very rigorous initiation. And I've just decided to make a new rule effective right now. If anyone who attempts the initiation and fails, then they'll have to suffer the consequences and if they try to turn down the initiation in order to avoid the punishment if they fail, they'll have to suffer the consequences. Everyone in favor of this new rule which will be put to use immediately say 'I'."

A number of monotone i's rang through the room making the vote unanimous and Richard was briefly remembered of the decision back at Titans Tower when they all decided if Robin was the best for the job. _Gee, I have such a wide range of choices here_, thought Richard but his mind raced back to Titans Tower. He hadn't had such a wide range of choices there either. The boy in charge turned back to Richard pleased with the results of the vote as he quietly said, "So what'll it be? Beat down or initiation with a possible beat down?"

"I'll take the initiation."

"Wise choice, my friend, wise choice," he responded coolly. He walked back over to the table (boys edging to create a gap once again), picked up a small object, and walked back over to Richard and as he did so tossed the object at Richard who caught it easily in his hands regardless of the firm grip still on his shoulders. There in his palm was a small silver digital camera.

"What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Why that's part of your initiation of course. You have to take a picture for us."

"Of what?" the Boy Wonder asked. This all seemed too easy. Simply take a picture and he's in? That's it? Nobody could fail that. No, there had to be a catch.

"That's where the tricky part comes in. We don't want just a picture of anything. We want a picture of the headmaster…"

"Can't you just do that yourself? Sounds easy enough."

"…in his underwear," he finished. Okay, not so easy.

"Fine. I get you your picture, I get no beat downs, and I get initiated into your Black Zodiac _fraternity_ and become king, am I correct?"

"Bulls eye. You have one week to get us our picture. If it's not in the hands of your roommates by eight p.m. next Sunday then you're getting your beat down and there will never be another chance for you to enter our royal family. And we want a good shot. His face and everything so we know it's him. No funny stuff like just his body and it turns out it's a friend of yours or something being a poser."

"Don't worry. You'll get a Kodak moment."

"I better."

"So what's your name?"

"There will be introductions later if you make it. We're not sure we can trust you yet and if you get caught trying to snap the picture of our dear headmaster, if you have the guts to do it that is, we don't want any names floating around in your head to blame it on," he answered in a slow drawly voice as if waiting for Richard to yell out that he was in fact a tattletale. When none came he motioned for the Black Zodiac to leave the classroom. They began filing out one by one leaving Richard still kneeling in the middle of the room rubbing his sore stomach, wondering how in the hell he was supposed to get a picture of the Headmaster in his underwear without getting kicked out and blowing the entire mission.

* * *

Richard walked into his math class that Cyborg set him up in with a mild limp. His stomach had a mild bruise there but it felt worse than it looked. Ironically this girl Wendy had to go to a school where nearly every boy was just as buff as Richard if not more. The leader of Black Zodiac sure did pack a good kick.

The school wasn't like any high school he'd ever been to. Most of his classes had half-moon stadium seating like a college. There were small tables that you shared with one person spaced evenly around the classroom and if you talked to anyone near you it was a one hour detention. Not like Richard would be talking to anyone but the last thing he needed was to have a one hour detention.

He was early for class and the Professor, as they called them rather than teachers, hadn't even arrived yet. He yawned from his strange and tiring night and flipped open his cell phone and found the updated picture of Wendy Cyborg had sent him from his communicator. She had long blonde hair, green eyes, peachy skin tone, about five foot four and weighed about 100 pounds. Snapping the phone shut, he looked up and around at the seats for the girl whose image he mentally memorized. She probably hadn't arrived to class yet either.

Just as Richard was deciding what to do when she got there a short blonde suddenly walked past him. Her hair swished side to side while her slim figure, wearing jeans and a red tee, walked up the steps and chose a seat dead center between all the other seats. She carefully placed her books on the edge of the desk and as she turned her body and sat in her chair, Richard got a glimpse of a girl with bright green eyes and a peachy complexion. She opened her notebook and leaned over her work writing diligently while her bright orbs darted all over the paper.

This girl was Wendy, his target.

He began to walk up the steps in a nonchalant way so as he could take the seat next to her. But just as he neared the desk, a well-built guy took the seat next to her since he had walked up the steps in the other isle. He began conversing with her with a concerned expression as she shut her notebook irritably, stacked on her other books in the corner of her desk, and began speaking to him with her eyes narrow and a frown enveloping the rest of her face. It appeared as though they were having a small argument.

Disappointed, Richard took a seat a row higher and a column over so that he was diagonal to Wendy and in clear view of her. He sat down unnoticed since Wendy's mind was preoccupied with the tidbit fight she was wrapped up in. Richard watched her every movement carefully out of the corner of his eye and only looked away when a boy sat next to him and introduced himself. Professor Vector ambled into the class minutes later with a dark, ruffled air about him. He tossed his briefcase on the desk in front of the black board and stood behind the desk with his hands gripping the back of the chair. His beady and angry eyes stared at each of the students in turn. All talking immediately stopped.

"I am in a bad mood today. Everyone please find a seat now or I will assign one right in the front which I am sure none of you will enjoy very much. If you do not discontinue the meaningless chattering I have come to find over my miserably years of teaching that you adolescents do, then maybe a two hour detention with me will shut you up. That's right two hours not the usual one. I make my own rules as this is my class. This is a very difficult math class and if you do not achieve a B or higher in either semesters then I will absolutely not recommend you for the next level and you will unfortunately have another lovely year with me all over again. Let me just call out roll, oh, which brings me to another rule I have. If I find you skipping, not only will it be a two hour detention but you will also have three percent removed from your grade.

"I already know about my nickname, Venomous Vector, and I will admit that I am harsh with my students but it is only my fruitless attempts to whip you lot into shape. Too many disrespectful, misbehaved and stupid students I've seen pass through this school and I must say it has disgusted me and I can only hope that this year will be different and that my students can, somewhat, make me proud enough for me to even say I teach you."

His eyes swept over each body in the class before he softly said, "Now… roll."

He called out everyone's names and just as his nickname proposed, he spoke with nothing but pure venom in his voice. When he reached Cassandra, Wendy, the girl previously having the heated argument with the boy seated next to her gave a light 'here' and returned to staring intently at her desk in silence. After a few more names he reached Grayson, Richard, and Richard having not answered to that name in years continued to stare at Wendy unaware that he'd just been called.

"Grayson, Richard!" Professor Vector called again. The boy, named Alex sitting beside Richard gave him a slight nudge in the ribs and snapping him back to reality.

"Oh, here!" Richard answered a bit too late. Professor Vector let his stern gaze fall upon Richard for a moment before answering an answer so full of hatred, that Richard was sure he was on his 'to fail list' already.

"_Pay attention_. I have no conscience therefore I can still sleep peacefully knowing I docked a few points from your grade for even no reason at all."

He went on with roll and Richard let his wandering mind set its sights on Wendy once again. Venomous Vector finished roll and moved onto the first lesson. He had a habit of randomly picking on students to answer questions and come up to the board to solve formulas and such. Richard knew he should have been paying attention enough to know what was going on but he couldn't help letting his eyes peel away from the blackboard to steal glances at Wendy. He told himself that it was his conscience that was plucking at him. It was the mission that he hadn't uncovered anything on that bothered him. That was why he kept chancing peaks at Wendy. But deep in the back of his mind he knew it was not the mission that was driving his wandering eyes and mind but it was her immense beauty and that fact that he was supposed to get close to her. He wanted to meet her, know her, and be her friend; maybe even more but he pushed away the feelings that told him he wanted to get to be more than a friend to her.

"Mr. Grayson!" Richard snapped out of his stupor the moment Vector decided to strike. "Since you believe you can let your mind wander into space because you of course must already know this, then why don't you show the class how to solve the problem?"

Richard stared at the man as though he must be crazy then squinted at the blackboard to see the problem clearly. It was a quadratic formula. A piece of cake for Richard.

"Three times the square root of fourteen all divided by two," he answered clearly.

Venomous Vector stared at him and Richard was sure he almost saw his jaw drop. Many of the students in the class turned around with their chairs screeching and scratching the floor. All eyes were on Richard. He had just mentally solved a problem which would have taken any normal student a calculator and a few minutes to finish. To top it all off he hadn't even been paying attention. Vector placed his chalk on his desk roughly causing it to snap in half before he softly spoke. "I would like a word with you after class Mr. Grayson."

Richard nervously nodded and took refuge to staring at his pencil. When he was sure the moment was dying and everyone was focusing their attention back on Venomous Vector's lesson, he glimpsed a look back at Wendy. She was staring straight at him. What was odd was that she wasn't blinking and she seemed to be thoroughly thinking about something. Richard turned away his eye and didn't look back at her the rest of class.


	4. Stitches

To my shock and surprise I forgot to say thanks to my reviewers in Chapter 3 so here they are!

**Ooooooooooochako: **Glad you like the chapters. You better… I still have my army of angry Chipmunks waiting for you. Haha…

**Xcloudx: **Yay! A newbie reviewer! Glad you thought it was awesome. Hopefully you'll still think so when you read chapter four. Thanks!

**Chaltab:** I'm glad you liked my character's Duke and Diffy. My goal was to make them as surfer-like and as opposite as Richard as much as I possibly could. It wasn't until after I was done writing that I realized they were so much like Beast Boy. I'm sorry you had trouble reading that one paragraph. I'll make sure next time I let you know who's speaking sooner. Anyway, thanks for the review!

**Jahiro19:** Well, I'm certainly glad you liked chapter two! I can't say the same for your review to chapter three however. But I'll just ignore that one. Duke and Diffy… well, I'm still trying to work something out to happen to them in the end. But everything I come up with doesn't seem to make that big of an impact to the reader as much as I would like it to. Also, of course it has to be realistic! Why would anyone read something if it wasn't realistic! (Just reminds herself that it's a cartoon with teenage superheroes which is not realistic…. Never mind.) Thanks for the reviews!

Disclaimer: I do now own Teen Titans or Bacardi or Jenga or Mall Madness.

**Undercover yet Head Over Heels**

Chapter Four: Stitches

Unfortunately, class for Richard flew by and in no time he was standing at the edge of Venomous Vector's desk with the man staring him down as though hoping he'd let loose some smart remark giving him reason to hand Richard a detention. It seemed as though everyone lately was staring him down hoping he would crack so he could suffer some sort of punishment. Finally Vector spoke. "I take cheating as a serious situation in my class Mr. Grayson."

"I didn't cheat!" Richard blurted out.

"Not even I can figure out a complicated quadratic equation in a matter of seconds such as you showed us today." Richard was tempted to say 'maybe you're just stupid' because he hadn't cheated but thought better of it than to go getting into realms for suspension on the first day.

"I didn't cheat! How would I anyway!"

"The problems I use in lectures are derived from the sample questions in the book. If you simply looked them over even I could vaguely remember answers—."

"You think I looked through the book and remembered the answers!"

"Do not interrupt me Mr. Grayson! I don't know how you did the problem I will admit that, but if you answer one more problem in this class without proof that you did the work to get to the answer I will be forced to give you a detention! I do not like it when students do not show their work!"

Richard shook his head and gritted his teeth out of frustration. He answered the question correctly and when he should be getting praised for being a genius he was on the brink of being handed a chastisement.

"Now when you come to class tomorrow I expect the homework to be complete which means showing all work. Don't be late."

Richard swung his bag over his shoulder and pushed open the door of the classroom a bit harder than he intended. It bounced against the wall with a loud clank and bounced back into place. Fuming, he set off for his next class but stopped dead in his tracks when he heard a light voice calling his name. "Hey, Richard!"

Richard spun around and was met with Wendy's figure bouncing toward him. She'd obviously been standing outside the classroom waiting for him to leave. In his shock to see his focus coming toward him, he stood there dumbfounded.

"I'm Wendy Cassandra. I was just in your math class."

"Yeah, I saw you," said Richard, his heart pounding inside his chest.

"Yeah, well, I was just wondering. You're a whiz when it comes to math right?"

"Um, I guess you can say that," he answered scratching his head nervously.

"I mean you answered that question in about three seconds. And I heard some of the argument going on between you and Vector. You didn't cheat, did you?"

"No, I have much better things to do than look at my math book on my spare time. Today was the first time I even opened it."

"Well, I was just wondering… even though you barley know me, would you mind tutoring me? I'm horrible in math. I struggled all last year and scrapped up just enough to pass and I want to get help before I fall in too deep like last year. Now would be as good as any time to start getting help since I didn't even understand today's lesson," she finished. She stared up into Richard's deep blue eyes with a look of pleading. He couldn't have asked for anything more. She was throwing herself at his feet and she was now falling into the perfect place for spying. Richard smiled.

"Yeah, I'll help you," he answered as smoothly as possible.

"Oh thank you so much! I'll even pay you or do whatever you want! I just really need this I can't afford to get kicked out of here, literally! Do you have a cell phone?"

"Yeah," he answered thinking proudly of Cyborg's high-tech phone in his book bag.

"Why don't you give me your number so I can call you and we can meet?" Richard froze at her words. Cyborg hadn't told him the number to the cell phone. Apparently, he hadn't thought anyone would need to call him. He had to think up a lie quickly.

"Um, actually, I just switched phone companies and got a new number. I haven't memorized it yet," he replied surprised at how fast he came up with that.

"Oh well they usually program your own number into your phone. Just look in your contacts list, it should be there," she answered. Her eyes innocently surveyed him with interest. Richard's heart stopped.

"I, um, left it in my dorm," he retorted. He could've slapped himself. Why hadn't he asked Cyborg for the number? Why!

"Oh well then I'll just give you my number," she responded. She vividly reminded Richard of Starfire. Quite unaware to things around her and very innocent. She dug through her bag and pulled out a blue pen. Swiftly, she reached for Richard's arm (he stiffened his body unaware of what she was doing) and clearly wrote seven digits and her name on his wrist. When she finished, she capped her pen and smiled at Richard who looked at the number turning his arm in an awkward position.

"My roomy and I share a phone so if she picks up just ask for me. Call me whenever, I don't mind how late. I'm usually up all the time anyway."

"WENDY!" Yelled a deep gruff voice. Wendy turned around to see who had called her name and quickly walking down the hall toward the two was the well-built boy who'd been arguing with her before class.

"_We haven't even broken up yet and you're already giving your number out to other guys!_" He screamed. Wendy wore a mixture of disgust and anger on her face as he became level with the two. Richard now realized just how much taller this guy was than him, and how menacing he appeared.

"Leave me alone Bruno," Wendy said irritably. Bruno furrowed his eyebrows at her and turned his attention to Richard who stood there utterly bewildered.

"You better hope your last phone call was a good one because you're not calling my girlfriend!" He yelled. Then with lightening speed he raised his fist and it connected with Richards's cheekbone brutally. The class ring Bruno was wearing made a deep cut right across Richard's face.

The Boy Wonder fell to the tiled floor on his back. He stared back up at Bruno with blurry vision and trying to blink it away vigorously. Bruno was about to pick him up by the neck of his shirt and Richard was about to spring into action when Wendy darted in front of him and began pushing Bruno away. Richard could hear her screaming but was in such a state of shock and pain he only caught certain words along the lines of 'stupid', 'breakup', and 'jealous boyfriend'. He was in the middle of sitting up on the tile floor when he felt Wendy at his side and her hand on his shoulder.

"_I am so sorry! Are you okay! Oh my God you're bleeding! Come on, I'll get you some help!_"

"I'm fine. Really, its okay," he tried to mumble. He put his hand to his cheek and brought it to his eyes. Blood drip down his fingers.

"No you're not!" She yelled. "You need stitches! Come on, I'm taking you to the hospital wing."

"No, Wendy, really, it'll be okay."

"Apparently, you hit your head too if _that's_ considered okay to you! Come on, we're going to the hospital wing!"

Wendy pulled Richard up off the floor and held on to his arm. She began steering him down hallways and corridors until they reached the staff and administration section of the school.

* * *

"How are you feeling?" She asked. Richard was lying across a white bed with a blood stained towel pressed to his cheek.

"Fine. Aren't we missing class?"

"Yeah, but I think the school would rather have you getting help than sitting in your class bleeding."

"But you're missing your classes too just to help me. And you barley know me." Richard was determined to know why she was letting herself get so close to him and so quickly. It was ironic how he was the one supposed to be getting close to her and the whole time it'd been her doing the getting close. She looked down at her wringing fingers.

"I… I feel guilty about what happened. I mean it's my fault Bruno hit you. If I had only—."

"You didn't _make_ Bruno hit me. It's not your fault."

"But still… Listen, I'm sorry about everything. I just get really worried and frantic at the sight of blood. If you don't want to tutor me anymore I'll understand."

"Don't worry. I'll still tutor you," Richard answered. Then he went on without even thinking or realizing what he was saying he went on. "Anyone who can do all this for a stranger must be a really good friend and that's something I don't want to pass up."

For the second time that day, Richard could have slapped himself. He was getting personal with her and toying with both of their emotions, something he hadn't wanted to do. Wendy looked up from her hands and looked at Richard as if she were seeing him for the first time.

"Thanks. No one's ever said something like that to me and meant it."

Right at that second, in order to ruin the perfect moment, a tall brunette burst through the hospital wing door with a school nurse, looking rather harassed, on her heels.

"Wendy! You're all right! Oh my God! When you didn't show up in Biology I didn't know where you were so I went to Vector to see what happened to you! He said he heard screaming outside his door and when he went to go check you were heading off to the hospital wing with a guy! I thought it'd been you who was hurt!" She leaned over with her hands on her knees breathing erratically. She'd obviously run.

"Regina, I'm fine. Calm down!" Wendy ordered. The girl named Regina stood up flipping her hair over her head.

"Calm down! _Calm down! _How can you say that! I hear that my best friend and roommate was screaming bloody murder in the halls and then ran off to the hospital wing with a guy! I wasn't told that it was the guy who got hurt! When you hear that someone screamed and then went to a hospital you're gonna think that the person who screamed was the one who got hurt! Don't tell me to _calm down!_"

"Ma'am," the nurse said hesitantly. "You're going to have to keep it down this is a hospital wing!"

Regina rounded on her. "Don't tell me to put a sock in it Ivana _Fattinup_! And you aren't a freaking nurse, you're a damn intern! You're the same age as me you dim-wit! I beat you up in the fifth grade for God sakes!"

The 'nurse' looked as though she'd rather be anywhere other than where she was at that moment. It looked as though she had shrunk a few inches standing next to Regina and Richard was sure he could see tears in her eyes. Ivana brought her clipboard up to her chest, which she puffed up to hold in her sobs, and scurried away as fast as her legs would take her.

"Are you done?" Wendy asked. Her voice was much softer than Regina's. The brunette inhaled deeply as though she were doing some sort of breathing exercise.

"Yes. I'm fine." She turned to Richard and said, "I don't think we've met yet."

"Uh… no we haven't. Richard Grayson."

"Regina Rudolph. I'm Wendy's roommate. But you probably already heard about that."

"Richard's in my math class. He's agreed to tutor me."

Regina looked amused at this bit of information. "Tutor Wendy? Good luck. I've been trying to help her in math since algebra one. Did nothing."

Wendy pouted and the other two teens laughed until Ivana's voice rang through the room. "Richard! You come in the back and get your stitches now, the Head Nurse is ready."

Richard made his way to the door with the two girls following behind him. He stepped into the room expecting them to be by his bedside while he was having his face stitched up but Ivana blocked them from entering.

"Sorry, only family can come beyond this point," she said with a sour voice much like the computerized one in the game Mall Madness. She was evidently enjoying this as Regina's anger consumed her and Wendy became worried.

"But…" Wendy pleaded.

"No exceptions." With that she began closing the door. Richard was sure he heard knuckles cracking on the other side and his suspicions were confirmed when Ivana finished closing the quicker and turned around with a look of fear upon her face.

"This… this way please…"

* * *

"We needed to give him mild anesthesia while we inserted the stitches. He's a bit groggy and out of it now but it'll wear off in a little bit. He should be fine," the Head Nurse answered to Wendy and Regina's inquiries.

"Good. Can we see him? Please?" Wendy pleaded. The nurse pursed her lips as though this was such a dilemma until she finally decided to let them in.

"Richard! Are you okay? How do you feel?" Wendy cried. Richard looked up into her face with a sort of emptiness in his eyes. He attempted in lifting his head from his pillow but it seemed as though gravity was turned up ten times and he let his head fall back.

"Ugh… like I'm drunk."

"Don't worry. That'll wear off in a while," said Regina with a smile. "Just be glad it's not the real thing, being drunk. It's a lot worse than what you're feeling now."

"It's a good thing he's not drunk because I don't want to relive that night again!" Wendy shot at Regina who gave a nervous smile.

"Oh c'mon it wasn't that bad getting me home was it?"

"You couldn't _walk_, I couldn't understand _anything_ you were saying, and on top of all that you're _dead_ _weight_. You still don't remember a _thing_ do you!"

Richard stared at Regina. She definitely wasn't twenty-one. Richard had gotten drunk only once and it had been at one of Bruce's business party's. He had been banned from drinking any alcohol after that experience. Not that's he'd have wanted to anyway after the massive hangover the next morning.

"I remember you _yelling_ at me the next morning while I had a _pounding_ headache!"

"Yeah, well, I'm glad you suffered after that night you put me through. Dragging your ass home isn't easy work you know!"

"How are you guy's roommates?" Richard asked sleepily. "You're totally different."

"It's been like that ever since we were little. Either Wendy got in a situation and I had to beat up a few people or I always got into the trouble and Wendy was there to bail me out."

"Even though half the time I should've _let_ you get in trouble. Would've served you right," Wendy answered glaring at Regina. Apparently, Regina came from the orphanage too if her and Wendy went back to childhood.

"You're all set to go if you'd like. Don't forget to come back in fourteen days to have the stitches removed. And remember to change that bandage daily," the nurse buzzed.

* * *

Richard knocked on the hotel room door. His cheek felt sore and his bruised abdomen turned a sickening black and blue color. Somehow he wished it had been someone else to go on this mission. The door opened a crack and he could see Beast Boy staring out at him.

"Password?"

Richard stared at the sliver of green eyes angrily before pushing the door open forcefully. It collided with Beast Boy and he collided with the wall.

"Password's 'open the damn door or get killed'," Richard snapped, walking in the room. Beast Boy closed the door from his position on the floor.

"Dude! No it's not! It's _Jenga_! And what's made you so pissed!"

"Maybe you haven't noticed the _bandage_ on my face BB but I haven't been havin' a party on the mission!"

Beast Boy stared at Richard but stayed on the floor most likely out of fear he might hit him. Richard was standing in the middle of the deserted room looking around.

"Where is everyone!"

"They had to go back to Jump City quick because Titan's East was having trouble with Windsor. Raven transported them all and they should be back any minute."

"He struck again! I knew we shouldn't have left Titan's East in charge. How come they left you here?"

"Because they thought someone should be here in the case you came. And besides I don't mind not having crud thrown in my eyes again," Beast Boy finished tentatively picking himself up off the floor. Abruptly, the door burst open once again squashing Beast Boy between the wall and the door. Cyborg, Raven and Starfire all walked in without noticing their teammate and roommate crying out in pain from behind the door. They noticed Robin and stopped dead apparently gaping at his bandaged cheek.

"What happened!" Cyborg exclaimed. Raven then slapped him upside the head.

"Oh he'll be fine won't he! What can go wrong! He's Robin! Well now look at him!" Raven yelled. Starfire shrieked and planted herself between them.

"No more hitting and yelling, please! Robin, what has happened? Why are you in such disrepair?"

Richard told them everything from the beginning. His whole big twenty-four hours on the mission and how everything had seemed to go wrong and yet in the same sense it couldn't have gone better. They all sat and stared at him when he finished.

"Dude, how do you manage to get into that much trouble in a matter of twenty-four hours!" Beast Boy said with his hands on his hips.

"Maybe it's because some idiot put me in a dorm with two losers like himself! I wouldn't be in half the trouble I'm in if it hadn't been for you! Oh, their records are _sparkling_ clean!"

"They _were_! How am I supposed to know that they're part of a gang or that they put porno pictures on their walls or that they were the stupidest people alive with nicknames like _Duke_ and _Diffy_!"

"Both of you just _shut_ _up_!" Raven yelled. "Yelling about it will do nothing! Now about that picture. I don't think this should be done by you, Robin. If you get caught, it could blow the whole mission because you'll be expelled without a doubt. Give me the camera. We'll get the picture."

Richard tossed her the camera and sat down on one of the beds. "So how'd the thing with Windsor go? What'd he rob this time?"

Starfire sighed and answered, "It was simply another store of the jewels. I believe that this criminal is none other than a mere Red X. He only wishes to steal."

"Except he's been holding back. Today he hit me so hard with wind it knocked the breath out of me," Cyborg said.

"Well, I'm trying to go as fast as I can with getting closer to Wendy. I have a few ideas in mind. If she gets close enough, and she has the powers, maybe she'll tell me how they work and what her weaknesses are. Oh yeah, Rae I need you to run a background check on a girl named Regina Rudolph. She's Wendy's roommate so it shouldn't be too hard to hack into school files and find it."

"I'm on it," Raven called from a laptop they'd brought along. A few minutes later she had the entire history on Regina. "She's from the same orphanage as Wendy. They grew up together. Only Regina's record isn't so clean. She's been caught a few times at parties with underage drinking and has a ton of speeding tickets but most of them have been dismissed."

"Well the underage drinking I knew about. And speeding is nothing big really, everyone does it."

"Yeah, Cyborg does it everyday! Heh!" Beast Boy said. Cyborg stared at him.

"I do everyday to catch bad guys and so do cops and we're above the cops!"

"I better get back to the school. There's a ten o'clock curfew for all dorms."

Richard said his goodbyes and set off back toward the school when he felt like a weight had been dropped in his stomach. He hadn't done his homework.

**A/N:** Well there's chapter four! Hope you liked it because I certainly enjoyed writing it! Well I'm going to start working on chapter five because I'm bored and have the time. All my friends (with the exception of one) are away on vacation or something so I have no one to talk to. Pity me… Oh and here's another reminder… REVIEW! I'm sick and tired of looking at my hits list and seeing that a ton of people are on there and yet I only have two best friends that review and one faithful true reviewer! Thanks Chaltab! Next time I log on I want to see true Fans who express their love for Teen Titans! (Points finger at you all threateningly) Thanks you!


	5. Family Bonds

**A/N:** I told my friend that this chapter wasn't going to be nearly as long as chapter four. It's a full nine pages and so was chapter four…... Fine! I lied! What're you gonna do! Hua, hua! (I just had chocolate chip cookies… it's the sugar rush talking so please excuse anything crazy I may say.)

Disclaimer: I do now own Teen Titans… I hate these things… they just rub in the fact that you're unimportant and not rich or famous.

**Undercover yet Head Over Heels**

Chapter Four: Family Bonds

Richard sat at a round wood table in the center of the school library. He was working away on an English paper he had due the next day while he waited for Regina and Wendy. Wendy was coming for her first tutoring session and Regina was coming along simply because the three of them had a bond ever since the hospital wing incident. The three of them were becoming quite a bunch of friends much to Richards likes. The mission was becoming more and more simple everyday.

"Oh my God!" Wendy shrieked as she sat down next to Richard. She had walked in the library with a slight limp.

"Shhh!" hissed the librarian. Wendy merely glared at her.

"What happened?" Richard asked. Wendy put on a face of up most disgust and anger.

"I saw Bruno coming down the hall in building five and I was planning on walking right by him and ignoring him but then he started calling out my name so I panicked and turned around and ran down the stairs in building six but on the last step I tripped or did something and now my ankle won't stop hurting. But Bruno was still behind me so I had to keep going and when I knew he wasn't going to give up, I hid in a janitor's closet until I was sure he was gone. Then I limped all the way back up here," she finished. Richard noticed she was slightly out of breath as she began rummaging through her bag. "Great! And to top it all off I forgot my damn math book in my dorm! I'll be right back, let me just go get it."

"No, you stay here," Richard said. This was his perfect chance. "I'll run over to your dorm and get it. You shouldn't be walking on that foot anyway. It looks like you twisted it. It's the least I can do after how you helped me with my stitches and everything."

"Oh, thanks Richard! It's dorm 342; here's the key. My book should be right on my bed. It's the one with the surf board bedspread."

"Okay!" He called as he made his way out of the library. Finally, after all this time, he was going to be able to do some snooping and truly get the goods for the mission. He began mulling over in his mind everything he could find in her room. He could come across anything from pictures of Wendy and Windsor to letters Windsor wrote to Wendy to keep in contact. Before he knew it, he found himself in front of dorm room 342. Richard looked left and right down the hall to make sure it was deserted before he slid the silver key into the lock and turned it and then turned the handle.

Inside were two twin beds which each had a night table beside it. In the middle of the beds stood a large dresser that he supposed the girls shared. On the opposite side of the room stood an isle which he supposed Wendy painted on since she was on an art scholarship. Very little pictures were on the walls since term just recently started. The bed on the left had a pink and black skull and crossbones bedspread while the one on the right had a surf board and beach like design. He knew only too well that even if Wendy hadn't told him whose bed was whose, he still would have been able to decipher the not so mystery.

"Okay, where would I be if I were a clue…" he muttered to himself. He walked over to the night table beside Wendy's bed in three large strides and began rummaging around in the drawer. When he came up empty handed after finding nothing but new paint brushes, he decided he would just have to go through the dresser. He quietly slid open the top drawer to find clothing he would rather not have to look through separated by a strip of wood in the middle. _This is a total invasion of privacy_, he thought to himself as he pressed down on the clothing on the right just to see if there were any objects hidden beneath. Quickly, he pulled his hand out from the drawer and shut it tight ashamed of what he just had to do. Next, he opened the second drawer and found only sweaters. After checking between each of them, he once again came up empty handed and carefully put everything back just as it was.

Finally, he opened the last drawer to discover it held no clothes whatsoever. Richard's heart leapt. He may have struck gold. In the middle of the drawer was an old worn photo album with objects scattered around it. The album seemed to be the main focal point of the drawer. The picture on the cover suggested that it was taken in front of Ms. Cassandra's orphanage because a large plump woman was sitting in the middle of a crowd of children in front of a cottage looking house. Richard quickly glanced through the book but only found that it held nothing but photos of Wendy, Regina and other children from the orphanage. Richard turned his attention to the objects lying haphazardly around the album. There was a boxing medal and trophy that had Regina's name on it and an art award that held Wendy's name on it. There were many ribbons for first, second and third place that held no names at all. He supposed the girls knew by heart which ribbon belonged to which girl regardless of the lack for writing. There was also Wendy and Regina's scholarship acceptance letters to Sacramento's Finest on each side of the album. Richard was about to close the drawer when a charred piece of paper caught his eye. Picking up the piece of scrap, he wondered why Wendy or Regina would keep such a piece of trash along with such treasured pieces until he read the writing in black ink.

_To the Orphanage,_

_This is our daughter Wendy. She was born September 10th, 1988 at 3:14 PM. Please take care of our little angel as we cannot. And please let her keep the name we wish for her to have as that is the only thing we can give her, something priceless. We hope you can make her understand we are trying to give her a life we cannot provide her with._

This must have been written by her parents when they left Wendy at the orphanage. Richard pulled the cell phone from his pocket and snapped a quick picture of paper before setting it back in place and closing the drawer. Maybe Cyborg could scan the handwriting of the photo and the handwriting of the note to see if they matched. If so, there was a definite connection between Windsor and Wendy. Richard heaved himself up off the floor, sent the picture to the Titans communicators and glanced around the room once more to see if he had missed anywhere. Swiftly, he dropped to the floor and looked under Wendy's bed. All that was there was a couple of blank canvases and a water polo ball. He got up and sat down on the surf board and beach comforter. He had checked everywhere he could think of. Well, at least he had the note as something of evidence.

For fear that he had spent too much time in her room, Richard picked up the math book at the foot of the bed, smoothed out her comforter and placed his hand on the door handle just as it opened pulling the brass knob away from his reach. There in front of him stood Regina looking like she had just run a dreadfully long marathon.

"Oh, hi. Um, what're you doing in my dorm?" she asked looking at Richard with a feeling that he'd gone through her stuff. Which he had but he would just keep that to himself. He had a sure feeling that Regina wouldn't hesitate to knock him out.

"Wendy had to outrun Bruno and twisted her ankle and then forgot her book so I came and got it for her. She was kind of limping."

"Oh, well, we'll walk to the library together then, let me just get my stuff."

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to you?" Richard asked as the out of breath girl shoved past him and over to her bed. She quickly began throwing things into her bag frantically.

"Um, can you keep a secret?" Regina asked. Richard almost wanted to laugh. He was lying about his identity, was sneaking into a school to spy on this girls best friend, was really a Titan, and to top it all off he had just gone through this girls room. Of course he could keep secrets. Instead, he offered a small smile rather than saying all that out loud.

"Course I can keep a secret. What happened?"

"Well, you have to promise not to tell Wendy or she'll flip out and then when the shock is over she'll bitch a fit."

"I promise."

"Well, a couple of years ago… I had been in a gang. Surprise there. Actually, it was just one year ago. But anyway they had put me through hell for a while and I would come back to the orphanage at all hours of the night and I would be all bloody and stuff because of little 'jobs' they made a few of us do. I don't know if you've noticed or not but I'm not little Miss. Innocent. But I gave up being a gang member when I got accepted to Sacramento's Finest last year for my water polo playing. I was coming to a new school to make new friends with Wendy so I wanted to start a new life; a clean slate. Well, as you can imagine, my gang wasn't thrilled about me leaving and ever since then I haven't exactly been at the top of their list. Today I ran into one of them, the one that's bound to become the leader if something ever happens to the current one right now. I guess you can call her the vice-president."

She sighed and sat down on her bed with her bag slung over her shoulder. Richard entered the room more now and sat on Wendy's bed. "What did they do to you, Regina?"

"Nothing. I ran. She has a new posse and by her orders they all came after me. They don't go to Sacramento's Finest though. I know because as soon as I entered the building I lost them easily. And they didn't look like they knew their way around. I could tell. It's not usually like me to run, but I didn't want Wendy knowing they're here. She wouldn't like that they're here again…" Regina rubbed her right forearm and for the first time Richard thought she looked scared and uncomfortable. "Those were bad times. I don't want to get into that crowd again. It hurt too much to see Wendy when I put her through all that. I guess I'm trying to live up to the person that Wendy is. She's been there my entire life always setting a good example and always being there for me. I look up to her. I just want be that person someone can look up to. Being a crook won't get me there. A want to be a person _Wendy_ can look up to. She's been like a mother to me and I guess I want to make her proud. She's not just my best friend. Wendy's my family. The only family I've ever had and I was stupid to risk all that. And if Wendy wasn't there for me, I probably wouldn't be alive right now," she finished. Regina inhaled deeply and held on to her bag tightly as she stood up. "C'mon, let's go. Wendy's waiting."

"Regina…" Richard started. Regina stopped and looked at him.

"What?"

"Wendy _does_ look up to you. You're like an older sister to her. You protect her and stand up for her. You're strong for the both of you. That's all the reason she needs to be able to look up to you."

Regina smiled sincerely. "Thanks. I think I needed to hear that right about now. C'mon, she's gonna get pissed if she thinks we both ditched her."

Richard nodded and together they walked to the library in silence, each of them understanding the stronger bond they now shared and the secret they held. As they walked staircases and hallways Richard noticed Regina hastily trying to fix up her hair and steady her breathing.

"You look fine and you're not breathing that hard anymore. She won't notice," Richard told her. She cast him a worried expression.

"Are you sure? My hair doesn't look too messed up? Trust me, she notices these things."

As Regina and Richard approached the table Regina called out, "Hey Wendy, look what I found in our room!"

"About time too! I thought he got lost or something. What's wrong Regina?" Wendy said almost immediately after Regina sat down across from her.

"Nothing, my bag's just kind of heavy. Lots of homework," she answered. Richard gave her a hard stare with a smile on his face. Regina stared at her notebook determined not to look at him.

"Okay, so in section one Richard, what do you do?" Wendy asked. After a few minutes of explaining Richard just now became aware of just how difficult teaching Wendy math problems was going to be.

"But why do you have to do that? Can't you just put this over here and cancel those thingies out?" She asked while pointing to a paper scribbled with numbers.

"No, for the last time you can't do that!"

"But why not? It makes so much more sense."

"Wendy, it's a rule! You can't just move things around to your liking."

"Richard, I'm not moving things around to my liking but doesn't it just make more sense if you move this over here and cancel those out!"

"Wendy!" Regina yelled. She had begun to get irritated with their bickering and couldn't concentrate on her own paper. "It's a _rule. Learn it. Accept it. Deal with it._ I have."

"Wow, that's the first. You obey a rule before me," Wendy commented sarcastically. Richard was about to explain the rule to her once more when a boy with thick rimmed glasses tapped him on the shoulder.

"Yeah?" Richard asked. He hadn't met or even seen this guy before.

"You have a visitor waiting in the front office for you," he answered dully. Richard would have liked to have asked who it was but in front of Wendy and Regina he couldn't. If it was anyone of the Titans, then the names Cyborg and Beast Boy could draw attention.

"Oh, okay. I'll be right there," he said. He turned back to Wendy and asked, "Do you mind if we finish this tomorrow?"

"Yeah sure no problem. I'll just make Regina help me with the homework."

"Um, Richard, are you sure you can't stay for like… until Wendy gets smart and starts understanding math? I'm sure your visitor won't mind waiting for like, a few years," Regina whined as Richard packed his bag. Wendy began to argue she was in fact smart but she was purely experiencing math blockage.

"Richard! I can't believe you're going to subject me to teaching this idiot! Come back here and fulfill your duties as the tutor while I sit here and laugh at your failed attempts! _Richard_!"

"_Bye_ _Regina_. Bye Wendy. Have fun with the tutoring!" Richard called over his shoulder on his way out. He could clearly hear Regina screaming his name even as he walked down the hallway toward the office. He was sure the librarian wasn't going to be too blissful with the noise level.

He scampered off to his room hastily and practically threw his bag on his bed. He intended on leaving just as quickly as he entered until Diffy jumped in front of the door blocking him from leaving.

"Dude! You have to see this. Duke put tape around his toe like an hour ago and it turned this sick purple color! It's so cool! Look, look!" Richard allowed himself to be pulled over to Dukes bed where he was laying to examine his toe.

"_Fascinating_," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "But as much as I'd love to sit around all day and watch Duke's toes fall, I have to go. Bye."

"Later dude!" The two roommates called together. Richard left the room once again feeling a twinge of anger toward Beast Boy and the demented roommates he set him up with.

He half walked, half jogged to the front office. It had to be Raven. She was the only one of the bunch who could pull off getting by as normal. Or maybe it was Starfire. If the rest of the team taught her some normal ways of speaking she too could get by despite her orange tinted tan. Cyborg and Beast Boy were definitely out of the question. They were too obvious that they were members of the Titans. No, it had to be one of the girls. But as Richard opened the door to the front office he found that it was neither Starfire nor Raven. A man in a black expensive looking suit stood just before the front desk gleaming at Richard with a smile on his face. Richard's jaw dropped immediately.

"_Bruce_!"

"Long time, no see Richard," he stated calmly.

"But, how did you know? How are you here?" Richard whispered to him. A secretary was sitting nearby going through paperwork.

"I've already signed you out of school for the afternoon. Hungry?"

"What? But…"

"I'll explain everything over lunch. C'mon," he answered pushing open the office door. "Alfred's waiting in the car."

"Alfred's here too! But, I don't understand," Richard stammered. All the same he followed Bruce out to a waiting black car. The two slid into the back seats.

"Hello Master Richard," Alfred said happily from the front.

"Hey Alfred."

"Richard, know any good restaurants around here yet?" Bruce asked.

"No. I haven't been off campus in days. Are you gonna—."

"Just take us anywhere Alfred," Bruce requested while cutting off Richard.

"I shall see where the nearest pizza parlor is Master Bruce."

"That's fine," Bruce responded. Richard sat quietly staring at his shoes. He was utterly and profoundly confused. How could Bruce know he was at Sacramento's Finest? Did he know he was undercover? If he didn't, had he let slip anything at the front office? After a moments silence in the car, Richard spoke up.

"I want answers. And not until we get to wherever we're eating because I want them now. How did you know I was at the school? That I'm a student? Most of all, do you have any idea that this is all just an undercover operation?"

"I knew you were at the school because I got a letter from it."

"What letter?" Richard shrieked. Bruce pulled a folded piece of paper from a pocket inside his suit jacket and handed it to Richard who read it over quickly.

_Dear Mr. Wayne,_

_As the guardian of Richard Grayson, it is our duty to inform you that while Richard was moving to another class this previous Monday, he sustained an injury from an angry classmate. He merely received a small cut across his cheek and was seen by me, the Head Nurse of Sacramento's Finest, Mary E. Rowe. Richard was treated with eleven stitches and his condition is perfectly fine as of now. He will be under the close eye of the nursing faculty in order to ensure he heals well and will have his stitches removed by next Thursday. _

_The student who injured him has been severely punished and we only hope an incident such as this will refrain from occurring in the future._

_We ensure that Richard is in good health and condition. There will be no need for a visitation unless you, Mr. Wayne, feel the need to do so. Thank you for your cooperation._

_Signed,_

_Mary E. Rowe_

_Head Nurse_

"They sent you a letter telling you about my stitches!" Richard nearly screamed. Bruce chuckled.

"At first I thought it was a mistake. I was about to call up the school saying I don't have a son that goes there until I decided I should check with you first. I called the Tower and Titans East answered and they told me how you were working undercover at Sacramento's Finest and that the rest of the Titan's were staying at a headquarters nearby you. Told me they were in charge while you all were away. Only thing I don't get is how you got your face cut open. And here I thought I taught you well and that you could defend yourself."

"Funny, Bruce, real funny. You know just as well as I do that I wouldn't have been able to do anything. I'm Richard Grayson here not Robin. I kind of had to let myself get hit. Didn't know the guy was wearing such a sharp ring though," Richard finished. He pressed his fingers to his bandage. He was so used to having it on; he barley noticed it was there anymore.

"So what are you doing that you need to go undercover? Titans East didn't tell me much in detail."

Richard explained the whole story of Wendy and how the operation came to be. Everything from the cell phone Cyborg invented to the fight with Bruno. He became especially happy when he told Bruce how he'd brilliantly came up with a plan to search Wendy's room. It wasn't often that Richard could gloat about his success to the Dark Knight.

"And then I found a note in her bottom drawer," Richard finished. He produced Cyborg's cell phone and showed him the picture of the note. "I've sent it to Cyborg to see if he can match the handwriting on the note, to the handwriting on the back of the photo. If it matches, then we have solid concrete evidence that Wendy is somehow definitely connected to Windsor. The note definitely came from her parents. That's why she's kept it all these years. I mean I kept everything… from my parents I mean, after they died…"

"I understand Richard. I do too even after all these years," Bruce answered. Alfred pulled up in front of a nearby pizzeria and spent lunch talking not about the operation but about the Titans and what's going on back at Gotham.

"What's going on with you and that Starfire girl?" Bruce asked smiling once again. Richard couldn't remember seeing his surrogate father smile so much in one day.

"Nothing."

"That's more like a something."

"No, that's more like a nothing as in she's my teammate and ever having a relationship with her would be dangerous," Richard retorted. Maybe that's why he felt a deeper feeling in his gut for Wendy. She wasn't Starfire so she wasn't off limits. If Robin ever established a relationship with Starfire then criminals would know and would use that to their advantage and as their weakness. But if Richard Grayson established a relationship with Wendy then it wasn't dangerous at all. That's why he felt a growing sense of longing for Wendy; she was within his grasp.

* * *

Richard trudged into his room after his afternoon with Bruce. For no reason at all he felt viciously tired. He flopped down on his bed but sprang back up rubbing his back. He had laid down on something pointy and hard. Turning around he noticed the silver digital camera in the middle of his mattress. 

Richard picked it up and scanned through the pictures. There, as the first picture, stood the headmaster with an expression of anger and shock upon his face as he stood in pink polka dotted boxers. Richard couldn't help but laugh. Now, more than ever, he wished he was back with the Titans just sitting in the hotel room hanging out and having fun. As much as he loved hanging out with Regina and Wendy who had miraculously become great friends with him, there was nothing like hearing Starfire take apart every word and place 'of' in between them, or listening to Beast Boy's lame jokes while Raven had a sarcastic remark for each of them, or trying to beat Cyborg on the Game Station. Just as Wendy and Regina were family, the Titans were Richard's family.


End file.
